


Voltron to Houston, we're coming in for a landing.

by SimplyEssa



Series: Spilling Red [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (is that how i spell it?), A lot - Freeform, Aquaphobia, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Blood, Carlos is a dick, Fluff, Gay Keith (Voltron), He doesn't believe anything, Homophobic language because i lied bitches, Hugs, Hurt Keith (Voltron), I'm a terrible person, Insomnia, Its just a nosebleed, Keith (Voltron) had PTSD, Keith (Voltron) just needs a Hug, LOTS OF PANIC ATTACKS, Lance's Family is very OC, Lance's Mom is Rosa because damn Dirty Laundry was good, Like, M/M, Mild Angst, Nightmares, Oops I Lied, Panic Attacks, Really really mild smut, Scars, Veradero Beach, Very minor violence, dont worry, how does one tag, i figured i'd warm you, i should really sleep at some point, im regaining your trust, its all good, its just two boys makeing out but, its not even graphi, lots o fluff, minor minor minor minor minor violence, no one gets seriously hurt in this, not after the last work, not too badly tho, someone give the poor boy a hug, why do i devote my time to this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-15 09:06:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11802903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimplyEssa/pseuds/SimplyEssa
Summary: Instead of a summary, you're getting this.This is the sixth(?) part of 'Shattering Keith', and will definitely not make sense unless you start from the beginning, no matter how terrible the writing was in P.1 (Guess who's back.)Without further ado-





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is the earth fic i had planned  
> i'm going to start it with them landing on earth, but here's what happened- keith and matt talked a bit, they visisged the olkari to get some thing to make them untraceable, took the castle to earth, landed in the cave where blue was. and now we begin.  
> (ALSO; i wrote this before the canon ages came out [the canon ages are so fucking wrong keiths 17 and shiros 6]  
> so-  
> shiro-26/6  
> hunk-18  
> lance-18  
> keith-17, turning 18  
> pidge-15)  
> translations at the end

"Alright," Allura said, each handing them a small, circular device with two buttons on it. "If there are any problems, or if you need to contact us, use these. Shiro and I will be very far from you three, I think it was called... Jeipn?"

"It's Japan, Princess," Shiro corrected, off to the side.

"Yes! Japan. We'll be in Japan. Lance, you and Hunk live relatively close, so you'll be taking a pod with Keith," she winked at Keith, who blushed and hid his face in Lance's shoulder. Lance laughed fondly and wrapped an arm around his waist. "Pidge and Matthew, you live rather close to them as well, correct?"

Matt nodded, just as Pidge jumped on his back. "You can take your own pod, if you wish, but it does not matter to me. Just make sure you stay cloaked.

"Does everyone understand?"

Everyone nodded.

"Alright! Be back here in eight quintant!"

Allura took Shiro's hand as they went to their pod, hugging Coran briefly. 

Keith walked beside Lance to their pod, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

Shiro had a mostly serious expression on his face. "Remember what I said, Keith. Don't fight his family."

"I know, Shiro. You've told me this, like, a million times. I get it."

Shiro sighed, but removed his hand. "Okay. But, Keith, I swear to God, if you come back and Lance tells us a story about how you kicked someone's ass-"

"I won't Shiro."

"Good," Shiro grabbed his arm and pulled him into a hug.

Surprisingly, Keith didn't flinch.

"You're getting better," Shiro commented, raising an eyebrow as he let go.

"Hell yes he is! Especially with the aid of a master toucher-"

Pidge fake gagged.

Keith frowned, clamped a hand over Lance's mouth, grabbed his arm and pulled him to the pod.

This was going to be a long eight days. 

* * *

"Okay. Who lives closer, Lance? Hunk or P-"

"Hunk. We're literally neighbors."

"Wow. Okay," Keith breathed. He looked at the holographic map. Just a few more minutes until they reached Pidge's house. "You guys got your stuff?"

"Yeah," Pidge and Matt said in unison, Pidge still on Matt's back.

"Alright, we're-"

"Keep driving! Tuck and roll, Pigeon! Tuck and roll!" Lance yelled, opening the pod doors.

"Lance, what the hell?" Keith asked, landing the pod in their backyard.

"You're no fun," Lance grumbled, wrapping his arms around Keith's neck.

"That's not what you said last nig-" Keith glared at the hand over his mouth.

"Get a room, you fuckers!" Pidge yelled.

 As soon as she said that, Matt ran from the pod, laughing his ass off. Pidge smacked his back and yelled "Faster!"

Lance gawked at her. He would've ran after the little gremlin, but it looked like their mom, who was in the backyard when they landed, was about to have a heart attack from seeing her kids.

Pidge and Matt waved at them as they left, but quickly returned to their mother.

If they weren't in a soundproof pod, Lance swore they would be able to hear their mother crying.

They flew for a few more minutes in silence, before Hunk finally spoke up. He had been uncharacteristically quiet the whole time.

"I'm super pumped to be seeing my moms again, but what if they don't believe it's me?! I mean, they've always trusted me before but now I've been gone for, like, a year and a half, so when I tell them the story they might think I'm an alien or something that's trying to take over Earth?!"

"Hunk, buddy," Lance sighed, grabbing his biceps. "I've met your moms. They'd believe you."

"I know, but-"

"No cuts, no buts, no coconuts! You hear me?! No buts!"

Keith frowned from the pilot seat. "I thought you loved my ass."

Even if he couldn't see it, Lance turned a bright red, letting go of Hunk's arms. 

"Lance.Exe has stopped working, Keith. Good job."

"Thanks. I try my hardest," Keith teased, unbuckling his seatbelt. "Oh. We're here, by the way."

"What the fuck?! What. The. Fuck?!" Lance repeated, grabbing his and Keith's bag.

"Lance, what are you-"

"If you're my boyfriend, I am going to be the most gentleman there is. Expect this shit from now on!" Lance moved the bags to his shoulders, taking Keith's hand and exiting the pod.

"See ya'!" Hunk called, right before bolting for his house.

"Take me to your leader," Keith smirked, intertwining their fingers.

* * *

 Lance's hand hovered over the doorbell.

What would happen when they opened the door?

Was anyone even home?

Would they think it was some trick?

Would they recognize him?

Would they hate him?

Would they be mad at him?

Would th-

"Lance," Keith placed a tentative hand on his shoulder. He knew Lance didn't like to be touched much during panic attacks. "Breathe. In, out. Breathe."

He tried to even his breathing out- he really did. He just couldn't. He didn't know how his parents- his whole family- would react, and it was making him so fucking anxious that he couldn't breathe right and  _oh God what if they hate me now-_

A car door slamming brought him out of his thoughts, but not from his panic attack.

"Who the fuck are you?" someone said.

Everything was muffled.

It was like he was underwater.

Underneath the clear, blue waves of Varadero beach.

He was home.

It didn't matter what they thought.

He was home. With Keith.

They were home.

"...et go, I'm helping your brother-" Keith grunted.

"My bro went missing two years ago!"

"Look at him-!" Keith broke off with a harsh cough.

_Carlos clearly hasn't seen me yet._

Finally having his breathing under control, he turned to face Keith again. Carlos had him pinned against the wall, one arm across his chest, while the other pulled harshly at Keith's hair. Keith's fists were twitching at his side, clearly trying to listen to Shiro's "Don't fight his family," rule. Blood dripped slowly from his nose, landing against Carlos' elbow.

" _Dios mio, Carlos, ¿qué mierda? ¡Ese es Keith, imbécil! ¡Suéltalo!"_ Lance shouted, grabbing the back of his brother's shirt.

 _"¿Lance? ¿Eres_ _tu?_ _"_ Carlos asked, turning his head around.

_" Joder sí, soy yo. Ahora suelta a mi novio, hijo de puta-"_

Keith had no idea what thy were saying, but the arm was removed from his chest, and he could finally breathe properly, so he didn't care. He'd ask later.

"Lance!"

A short, tan woman with long, curly hair and dark blue eyes swung the front door open, pulling Lance into a bone crushing bear hug. She sobbed, hugging him harder.

"Mama, please- air-"

She loosened her grip.

"Mama, I want to tell you guys where I was, and what I did- I have no idea what the Garrison told you, but it's all bullshit, and I'm just gonna ask you not to be mad-"

"I'm goin-going to be mad at you later. Hugs now. Mama missed you.

"Okay, that's fine," Lance wrapped his arms around the shorter woman, who reached his shoulder, and was his mom, hiding his face in the crook of her neck as he cried quietly. 

Lance has always been one of the pretty, muffle every sob, criers.

Carlos, his brother, eyed Keith warily, but joined in on the hug.

Keith stiffened when he heard barking.

He forgot to tell Lance-

A bloody sneeze seemed to catch Lance's attention, raising his head to look at Keith, who was sneezing blood into the crook of his elbow.

"Shit- Keith, what-?"

"Come with me, what's his name? Keith?" Keith nodded, smothering another sneeze with his arm. "Come with me, Keith. Lance, you can tell me what happened after I take care of this young boy."

Lance's mom took him by his other elbow, dragging him into the house. 

He clenched his eyes shut as he sneezed more, from the fur in the house, most likely. He still wasn't sure what he was allergic to from dogs, but it was them. 

And it sucked.

"Dogs," he gasped, wiping the blood off of his face as they entered their kitchen.

Lance had said a lot about his family, like how they weren't rich, but wow, was Lance lying.

So far, all he had seen was the outside of the house (which made it seem small, but it wasn't, God,), and the kitchen.

The outside was a pale orange, a peach, maybe, with vines littering the sides and an old, brown roof, with plenty of windows. 

The kitchen, on the other hand, was huge. There were granite counters in one half, with a white tiled floor, and a granite counter in the centre of it all, rainbow stools surrounding it. A modern sink sat on one of the counters, while a huge stovetop sat on the inside of the island, facing the sink. A double stainless steel fridge was what ended it all, lots of (obviously homemade) drawings pinned to it by cheesy magnets.

She sat him down on a red stool, pulling a box of tissues towards him as she dug through a cabinet to find bandaids.

Keith tried not to think of how ironic that was.

"So, hon, what's your relationship with my son?" She asked, and Keith could _feel_ the knowing smirk growing on his face.

"I- uh- we-" Keith sneezed at that moment, more blood dripping down his face.

"Are you allergic to something, dear?" Lance's mom asked, concern evident on her face as she turned around, holding a box of bandaids. 

"'llergic to dogs, ma'am," Keith sighed. "Can I..?" He gestured to the tissues, sniffling.

"That's why they're there, hon," Lance's mom smiled fondly, setting the box on the counter. She dug through another counter. "And call me Rosa."

He grabbed a tissue before he could sneeze this time. 

It came out bloody.

"How'd you get a bloody nose, hon?" She grabbed a bottle of tylenol and a bottle of water, handing it to Keith. 

"Why-?" Keith accepted the tylenol and water, downing it in one go.

He avoided the question.

"Lance told me you get a little wrinkle," Rosa poked in between his eyebrows. "Right here."

"I haven't heard him say anything about me yet," Keith pointed out, after he swallowed the pill. 

"During the Garrison, he told me a lot about you. I think he was stalking you," she chuckled, grabbing a few tissues. Keith felt his face heat up. "Head up," she ordered.

Rosa had one of those personalities that kept you from not following her orders. Keith obeyed.

She dabbed around his nostrils, wiping off the blood. "Back to my other question, how'd you get a bloody nose?"

"Oh, uh-" Keith bit his tongue to keep himself from yelling 'fuck' in front of Rosa. "Framp," came out instead.

Rosa snorted, putting the bandaid in place.

"Alright. There you go."

"Thanks, ma'a-" Rosa hit him with a dishrag.

"Call me Rosa!"

"Yes, ma- Rosa."

"Good boy," she teased, putting the dishrag back. "Now, tell me what happened."

Keith rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Okay- just don't get mad at Carlos, he did see a stranger on his front porch. He, um, punched me. In the face," he sneezed again. He grabbed a tissue, wiping the blood off.

"Oh, not that story," she laughed a bit. "I saw that. Just wanted to see if you would defend Carlos or not," she winked. "Lance is a little... preoccupied," she gestured to the small window in the wall, where Lance was explaining to the rest of his family where he was. Every once in a while, his eyes would flicker to the kitchen, probably looking for Keith. Keith smiled when he looked again. Lance visibly relaxed, turning back to his family. "I want to know where you were, and why my son has a scar on his jaw."

"Oh. That. Right," Keith crossed his legs beneath him. "Well. Okay, yea. Do you remember Takashi Shirogane and the Kerberos mission?"

"Remember him? Lance had posters of him!"

Keith snorted, instantly regretting it. "Jesus, your son has a mean punch."

She nodded.

"Okay, well," he rubbed his nose. "He crashed on Earth in an alien ship..."

* * *

When Keith had gotten to the end, Rosa was sitting on the yellow stool across from him, one leg over the other.

"I'm going to kill them," she muttered, a dark gleam in her eyes.

Keith didn't answer her. He figured how much she would hate the Galra after hurting her son.

"Keith, honey," She looked him in the eyes. "Are you alright?"

Keith blinked in surprise. "Wh-What?"

"You told me what happened without sugar coating it, unlike Lance. He's probably taking out the... traumatic events," she gestured behind her, where Lance was listening to his little brother say 'he's a superhero, daddy! A superhero!'

"Oh, I... Yeah. I'm fine," he lied. He was perfectly fine. You know, just a few panic attacks whenever Lance so much as fell asleep, being woken up from nightmares every night, definitely has PTSD, and can hardly high five someone without screaming. Perfectly fine.

She seemed to understand that he didn't want to talk about it, changing the subject. "He calls you space cat?"

"Yes," he grumbled, face heating up.

"That sounds like Lance," she smiled. "I know some of his siblings may not believe Lance, but I do. I believe you wouldn't lie to me, and I know Lance wouldn't lie to us. About this, at least. He'd love his family too much to disappear for no reason. Saving the Universe is hell of enough reason for me."

"Thank you. Lance started having a panic attack before we- before Carlos kind of freaked. He thought you wouldn't believe him, and his mind went to worst case scenarios," Keith explained, fidgeting with the edge of the bandaid.

"Stop touching it," she smacked his hand away from his nose. "Next question, what is your relationship with my son?"

"Boyfriends, mama!" 

Lance waltzed into the kitchen, wrapping an arm around Keith's shoulders, and placed a kiss to his cheek.

He fought the blush creeping up his neck.

"Good," she said fondly, grabbing a phone. "He's a good boy, _mijo._ "

She held out her arms for Lance, phone in hand.

Lance let go of Keith, all but running into her arms, sobbing as he buried his head into the crook of her neck.

"I'm so sorry, Mama, I should've told you somehow, or-or-"

"It's fine, _mijo_. Family is important, sure, but saving the Universe is far greater. You were protecting us by killing them, Lance. I understand. Your brother Carlos did the same thing, remember?"

Lance nodded. "I heard Ke-Keith telling you t-the story," he mentioned, lifting his head up. He didn't let go of Rosa. "He didn't mention h-how he st-stared at my ass. A lot."

Keith felt the heat rise up to his cheeks. He never stared at Lance's ass. Well. Maybe a few times, but still! "What- I didn't- Lance stared at mine!"

Rosa laughed, taking her arms off of Lance. "It's fine, hon. My son has a fine ass. So do you, Keith."

"I'm glad someone appreciates it," he glared halfheartedly at Keith, who was beginning to pout unconsciously.

"Lance," She sailed a number on the phone. "How long until I see this Castle-Ship thing?"

"About eight days."

"Alright. I'm ordering pizza, go see your siblings," she raised the phone to her ear, shooing them out of the kitchen.

Lance grabbed Keith's arm, dragging him out. "Told you she'd love you."

"Shut it," Keith muttered, keeping his gaze downcast as they entered the room where most of his family was gathered. 

Lance's father, John, Lance had told him, passed by them without a word, slipping into the kitchen. The rest of the room was filled with Lance's brothers and sisters.

On the ground, his little sister and brother, Carla and Jacob, were playing with race cars.

Carla had tan skin, like Lance's, brown hair that went to her waist, but was currently in a braid. She wore an outfit similar to Lance's, but purple, instead of blue.

Jacob had tan skin as well, with cropped brown hair and brown eyes. He had dimples when he laughed, with a plaid shirt and yoga pants. He had a star wars bandaid on his elbow.

Lance had mentioned that they were both seven, twins, and that Jacob was probably gay.

Another one of his siblings, Crystal, sat on a blue couch, legs crossed beneath her, piercing blue eyes studying Keith. She looked a lot like Lance. The only difference was that she had glasses and a ponytail in her hair.

Keith smiled sheepishly, giving a little wave before looking at the rest of the room.

Jessie, Lance's sister, who was seventeen, sat on a blue chair, feet reclined on a table. She was barefoot, toes painted blue. Her legs were bare, up until mid-thigh, where a black skirt started. She had a white tank top on with a jacket that was way too big for her- It was probably her boyfriends. Her hair went down to her shoulders, the same colour as her brown eyes, but with blue tips. She watched him, just like Crystal did.

Carlos sat on the floor, a little boy in his lap. Now that he wasn't being attacked, he saw that Carlos had a white t-shirt with his blood on it. He looked a lot like Lance, but he had glasses as well.

The little boy in his lap, who Keith had yet to learn the name of, was tan like the rest of them, but had green eyes instead of blue or brown. He looked a lot like Carlos.

"That's his son," Lance told him, pointing to the little boy in Carlos' lap. "His name is Ethan."

Keith nodded. "Don't you have more siblings..?"

"School," Crystal mentioned, eyes not leaving him. "Who are you?"

"I'm K-"

"That's no way to introduce thyself!" Lance shouted dramatically. "Try again!"

Keith looked up at him, blinking in confusion. "What?"

"I said, try again!"

"Um. Okay," When you've dated Lance for nearly a year, you got used to his theatrics. "My name is K-"

"God, Keith. You suck at this," Lance huffed, shaking his head. "Let me do it for you."

He pulled Keith behind a wall, not taking his hand off of his wrist, even when he sneezed blood. Again. Stupid fucking nose. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and that slut over there," he pointed to the golden retriever, who laid on a dog bed with an innocent look. "Introducing-!"

"Keith," he sighed, stepping out of the wall. "I really don't want to do this right now, Lance," he sneezed again. "Dog."

"Oh, right. Wait. What?"

"I'm-" he sneezed. "Allergic to dogs. Or something on them."

Lance made a 'pfft' noise, but let go of Keith's wrist, grabbing the dogs collar. "That's just because you're part cat."

"I'm not part cat!"

"Keep telling yourself that, babe," Lance smirked, attatching a leash to the dogs collar. Keith glared at him weakly, but made no other response. He _was_ right, after all. Not that he'd ever say it out loud. "I'm taking her out back. Behave, Keith," he teased, disappearing through the kitchen door.

"I didn't believe a word he said," Crystal spoke up, hands folded in her lap.

"You never believe anything he says," Jessie rolled her eyes. "He told her that the Easter bunny was going to chew her head off when they were six," she told Keith.

"Uh- okay. I don't-"

"Jesus, sit down. You don't have to be so uncomfortable," Jessie said, pointing to the couch. 

"No, it's fine, I'm okay to stand-"

"Get on the God damn couch, Keith. We don't bite," Crystal said, a mischievous gleam to her eyes. "Well, this little monster does," she bent down to grab Jacob, lifting him off the ground. She tickled his sides.

Jacob shrieked with laughter, and Keith couldn't help but smile fondly. He leaned against the wall. "Nope. Not happening. Get on the couch," someone said behind him, giving him a rough shove.

"Dad! Don't-!"

Keith eyes widened in panic as he stumbled, but he quickly recovered himself. From stumbling, that is. Every breath he took in wasn't enough- it was too short, too fast, not enough-

He stumbled again, falling on to someone's chest. He tried pushing away, but he couldn't- the arms holding him were too tight- he couldn't breathe- there wasn't enough room- 

"Keith."

Keith shook his head frantically, placing both of his palms on the persons chest, pushing with all of his strength.

"Keith, calm down. It's me, it's La-"

"No- no, let go!"

"Keith-"

Everything was becoming blurry.

"Breathe, yeah? Breathe with me, okay?" The person holding him said softly.

What..?

Why- why would the Galra want him to breathe?

They wanted him dead-

"In and out, baby. In and out."

Keith sobbed, burying his face into the persons shoulder.

That voice could only belong to one person.

And that person was dead.

Lance was dead- he was dead- this couldn't be Lance-

"I'm right here, baby. The pod fixed me, remember? Just a little scar now."

"No- no, no, no, no! Y- H-he died! The stupid fucking Galra shot him and he's d-dead and this isn't real!" Keith sobbed again, clenching his fists in the fabric of fake Lance's shirt. "It's just some hallucination! None of it's real!"

"Look at me," fake Lance said, taking his hand off his head. Keith left his head where it was. He'd probably get a broken rib for didobeying, but it didn't matter- he didn't want to see him again- "Baby, please."

God, Keith had no willpower.

He removed his head from fake Lance's shoulder, hesitantly meeting his eyes. Although it was blurry, Keith knew that was Lance.

The real Lance.

Whenever they made a hallucination or something, he would never smile, and his eyes would be black, and blood would be coming from his slack mouth-

"Deep breaths," Lance ordered. 

Keith nodded, trying to follow Lance's example. 

"Sorry," Lance said, rubbing his back. "I should've told them not to do stuff like that-"

Keith shook his head. His breathing was almost right, and the black spots were gone. "It-It's fine."

"I'm gonna tell them later, though. Okay?"

Keith nodded. "Can we, uh, sit down?"

"We are sitting down, d-idiot," Lance said, pointing Keith's head down.

They were kneeling on the floor, with Keith practically in Lance's lap. "What- when did we-"

"Your legs gave out, like, three minutes ago."

"Oh- I- how long did it last this time?" Keith asked. He thought he was getting better, but if it took three minutes...

"Ten minutes, at least."

"What the-?"

"Lance, _mijo_ , could you come into the kitchen?"

"Annnd, that's my cue," Lance said, letting go of Keith. He took the opportunity to sneeze into his arm. "Go sit on the couch, space cat."

Keith grumbled, but obeyed, getting off the floor and sitting on the couch.

Keith watched Lance disappear behind the kitchen door, panic fading away.

"So," someone said beside him.

Keith jumped, but made no noise. He looked over at the person beside him, heartbeat erratic. Jessie was sitting in Crystal's old spot, in the same position, but facing Keith. "Oh. Hi."

"Hi," she parroted, eyebrows furrowing. "You're wearing my brothers jacket."

Keith stared at her in confusion. 

"Look at your arm, dumbass," She had the same teasing smirk Lance did.

This family was so alike.

He obeyed, looking down at his arm. Jessie was right; it was Lance's jacket, the sleeve covered in drops of blood from when he sneezed.

"Fuck," he muttered.

Jessie snorted, handing him a box of tissues. 

Keith took it gratefully, pulling a few out and wiping at the sleeve.

"You're the Keith from space, right? His boyfriend?"

"Um, yeah. Do you not believe him?" Keith inquired, raising an eyebrow as he looked at her.

"'Course I believe him. He never lied," She took a minute to think, while Keith rubbed the last of the blood off. The spots where it used to be was a little wet and darker, but it wasn't too noticeable. "Well, to me, at least. I doubt he'd lie about where he was."

"What about the others?" Keith asked, mimicking her position.

"Don't believe Crystal; she definitely believes him. I don't think she can't believe him. Like, a trait where she has to believe Lance."

Keith snorted. Bad idea. "I've gotta stop doing that," Keith grumbled, rubbing at his nose. "How the hell can he punch hard enough?!"

"He, uh, Carlos was in the war."

Keith blanched. "Oh. Does he have...?"

"PTSD? No, he's one of the lucky ones. Still pretty cautious and all, but he doesn't have any disorders from it, luckily. You, on the other hand..." Jessie prompted him to explain. "What happened?"

"Did Lance not tell you?" Why wouldn't Lance tell them?

_You didn't sugar coat it, unlike Lance. He's probably taking out the... traumatic events._

There were little kids in the room.

They would be scared if they heard how their big brother was taken by evil aliens.

"Nah. It would probably scare Carla and Jacob, so he probably sugar coated it or something."

Keith nodded. "Makes sense. What'd he tell you?"

"That you, him and Takashi," Keith ignored the way she butchered the pronunciation of Shiro's name, "were taken by the Galra," he once again ignored the pronunciation, "and came out a week later unscathed, which is absolute bullshit."

"Bullshit," Keith agreed. He turned around to look in the kitchen. Lance had his back to him, explaining something to a very angry-sad Crystal and Carlos. "Yeah, we did not come out unscathed. Well, Lance mostly did, actually."

"What? Why?" Jessie backtracked quickly. "I mean, I don't want him to get hurt or whatever-"

"I got what you meant," he smiled. "Their prince was creepily obsessed with Lance, and would use me to get to him. I'm not sure why. We started dating after all of that," his voice was surprisingly calm when he explained it, no matter how scared he was then (and now). "So, the prince, Lotor, would tell him to come to his chambers or something, and if he refused, they'd hurt me, or whatever," he looked down at his lap, fiddling with his thumbs. "They, um, did a lot of stuff, that I'm not comfortable with saying right now, but-"

"That's absolutely okay, Keith. I just- why the fuck would he do that?" 

"But I can show you," he finished, ignoring her question. He took a deep breath, taking his-Lance's- jacket off.

"You don't have too, Keith."

"It's fine, I just- I don't like saying what happened," he tried to smile, but it probably came out as a frown. By the time he got to his shirt, his hands were shaking.

Should he really do this?

How old was Jessie?

Fifteen, sixteen?

She could be scared by this-

Taking a deep breath, yet again, he pulled the shirt over his head.

Jessie gasped.

Her eyes trailed his body, starting from the bottom of his abdomen, up to his neck, where a handprint was burnt into his skin.

"There are whip marks on my back," he mumbled. He didn't want to keep too many secrets from Lance's family.

"Jesus- that was seven days?"

Keith nodded.

"Fuck them," She practically growled. "Can I..?" her hand hovered in the air, near his chest. 

Keith nodded.

She gingerly touched the scar where he had been impaled, looking at Keith for permission. He nodded again. 

"Jesus Christ," She took her hand back, eyes never leaving his chest. "How the fuck do you do that in seven days?!"

"Beats me," Keith sighed. _Literally_ , he mentally added. 

"I do have one question, if that's okay."

Keith stiffened. He didn't really want to explain anything, but... "Shoot."

He sat on his hands to keep them from shaking. 

"Why is there a handprint on your neck?"

Oh. Fun. That story.

"It's kind of hard to explain," he sighed. He hardly knew how that happened himself. He wasn't very coherent during that time.

"You don't have to-!"

"It's fine, I just wasn't very coherent at the time."

Her eyes darkened.

Keith suppressed a flinch, knee bouncing on the couch. "Before all of this," he gestured to his chest. "We had defeated Zarkon. Shiro, my brother, disappeared. We found him two days later in a cell at the Galra, but it wasn't really him. He tried to kill all of us, Lance included, but we have these weird healing pods-"

"Lance mentioned that. Somehow it can't cure fevers?"

Keith nodded, choosing not to snort. His nose would explode if he snorted again. "Yeah. It sucks. Anyways, none of us actually knew it wasn't Shiro, so we didn't question it. He came to me while I was training one day, and he had just gotten out of the pod, because he had impaled himself. I don't think it hurt him in any way, either. Oh, wait- you know that Shiro has a prosthetic arm that's a weapon, right?"

She nodded.

"Good. He can use it to burn stuff, or just fight with."

"Lance called it the ultimate bitch slap."

Keith snorted. "God damn it-" He brought a tissue to his nose, which was now dripping blood. "Okay, well, he kind of, um, choked me, with that hand, and was also burning me at the same time."

"He's dead, right? Please tell me he's dead."

"Yeah." Keith lied. He had no way to tell if Kuro was dead or not. Shiro said he would die if he was away from Kuro for too long, but they might have changed that.

"Good. You can put your shirt back on, if you want. I don't think the kids should see."

"Right-"

Someone gasped from the kitchen. Keith turned around, pulling his shirt over his head. Lance was staring at him, a small smile on his face. Rosa had a hand over her mouth, eyes wide from shock. She was staring at his back.

Oops.

No one else was in the kitchen.

"Keith, hon," she said sadly.

"I'm fine m- Rosa. It was a while ago."

"I hope you know that if I ever meet those monsters," Keith flinched. He forgot to say he was part-monster. "I'll kill every last one."

"Mama?" Lance asked, shooting Keith an 'I'm-sorry-I-didn't-mention-you're-part-cat-to-her-yet.' He turned back around, facing his mom.

"They, um, did other... _stuff_ , too," Keith said at last, facing Jessie again.

She seemed to get the idea.

"Is that it?"

Keith laughed darkly. "Oh my God, no. I don't want to say anything else, but, no. No way in hell was that it."

She nodded. "Do you want me to wash Lance's jacket?"

He looked at the jacket, which was in a heap on the table. He shook his head. "Thanks, though." He took it off the table, slipping it on again.

"No problem," she said, watching him pull the hood on. "You look tiny in that," she added, after a moment.

"So do you," he shot back, gesturing to her jacket.

She flushed. "Touché."

"Who does that belong to?"

"My boyslashgirlfriend."

"What?"

"He's transgender. Born a girl, became a boy, or something like that."

Keith nodded. "Okay. I'm gonna go get L-"

Someone, probably Lance, sat down behind him, wrapping an arm around his waist, and another across his shoulders, pulling him into his lap.

"Why can't you have your ears again?" He sighed, resting his chin on Keith's shoulder. "I want you to purr."

"What," she demanded, not asked, an amused smirk tugging her mouth.

"He would change into the Galra form sometimes. He got these super cute cat ears, and whenever I sc-"

Keith clamped a hand over Lance's mouth.

Lance licked it.

"Fuc-"

It was Lance's turn to cover his mouth.

"No swearing! There are children around!"

Keith huffed, glaring at Lance. He wasn't going to be immature and lick his hand.

Nope.

The doorbell rang before he could choose that route, startling him.

"It's okay, space cat. Just the doorbell. Squash your animal instincts. Save them for bed-"

Keith covered Lance's mouth, licking his hand. Lance took his hand off, wiping the spit on Keith's jeans. "Jessie,"

She was laughing.

"Jessie, we will not have sex here."

Lance licked his hand, prompting him to take it off and wipe it on Lance's shirt. "Yeah, Grandpa over here always falls asleep before we can do anything."

"Jesus," he muttered. "That was one time! I was training the entire day!"

"Sure it was, babe. Sure it was."

"Lance, Keith!" Rosa called, appearing from the wall covering the door, a few boxes of pizza in hand. Keith's mouth watered. He hasn't had pizza in so long. "Oh- Jess, take these boxes and put them beside the boys, will you?"

Jess huffed as she got up, but obliged, taking the boxes (three, to be exact. No, Keith did _not_ count), and putting them on the cushion beside Keith and Lance.

"Lance, I want you to know I love you, but I love pizza more right now."

"Agreed," Lance said. 

"Can we..?" Keith asked, smacking Lance'a hand away from the box. He was going to be polite, and _ask_.

"I got them for you two, hon. Eat as much as you like- you're both way too skinny, and probably haven't had pizza since you left," Rosa answered, carrying another three boxes into the kitchen. "When you leave for space again, because I'm not allowing you to stay here instead of you saving the Universe, I'm going to buy a bunch of frozen food and send it with you, okay?"

"I love you, Mama," Lance squealed. 

Keith took a box, placed it in his lap, and dug in with Lance.

Pizza was so _good_.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get insight on Lance's dog, the slut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's going to be a lot of panic attacks in this

Power Rangers.

Lance was making him watch _Power Rangers._

"Blame Pidge, space cat. Blame Pidge," Lance teased, turning Netflix on.

Keith huffed, curling into Lance's side. 

He didn't want to watch Power Rangers, but he was more than happy to cuddle with Lance.

And the pizza.

They still had a box and a half left.

They were saving it for later.

Keith sneezed again.

He brought a tissue to his face, gingerly wiping away any fluids. When he brought it back, there was no blood on the tissue. "Finally."

"Pizza," Lance said, arm still wrapped around Keith's shoulders.

"I don't wanna move," Keith complained. "I'm comfy here," He proved his point by resting his head on Lance's shoulder, wrapping the jacket around his legs. He placed his hand on Lance's thigh-

What was that?

Furrowing his brows, Keith looked down at his hand, which was just above Lance's pocket. It was something circular and thin...

Lance dropped the remote, snatched his hand, and moved it away from his pocket. 

"What is that?"

"It's- um, I have a medical condition that I'm ashamed about!" Lance blurted.

"A what?"

"It's called, uh-"

"Ebola!" Crystal happily supplied. She knew what her brother was up to.

"Yes! Ebola!"

"Bullshit," Keith sighed, but didn't ask any more questions. 

Lance sighed in relief. He'd have to give the ring to his mom later.

He started Power Rangers.

_Loading. 23%._

Lance banged his head against the back of the couch. This was going to take forever.

Lance tilted Keith's chin up with two fingers, lowering his. When he was an inch away, Keith pushed his face away.

"Not in the house," Keith glared. "We discussed this."

"But, baaaabe," Lance whined. 

"Lance if you kiss me while we're in the house, I will go lie with the dog."

"Don't do that!" Lance shrieked. "She's a slut!"

Keith blinked. "What? Aren't you concerned about my allergies?"

"She'll have a hybrid of babies with you! Cat-Dog-Human hybrids!"

"Why is she a slut?" Keith asked, pushing away from Lance so he could face him.

"When Lance was thirteen, he watched her have sex with another dog. A few days later, he watched her have sex again, but with a different dog," Crystal laughed, shoving pizza in her mouth.

"Crystal," Lance halted at her, pulling Keith into his lap. "Why aren't you at school?"

"Take your kid to work day for grade tens. And, since mom works at home..."

Lance facepalmed.

He used that too.

"Don't follow in my example," he sighed. "Did Jessie do that too?"

Crystal nodded.

"My schools never did that," Keith spoke up, crossing his arms.

"You don't miss out on much," Crystal informed him "unless your mom or dad," Keith stiffened. "had a really cool job. Like, assassin or whatever. What do your parents do?"

Keith looked at his hands.

"I... they, um..."

"They died when he was about four," Lance answered for him.

"Oh," Crystal breathed, "oh my God, I'm so sorry-"

"It's fine," Keith tried not to snap, but he hated it when people pitied him for being an orphan. And it's not like his mom was dead; she probably faked her death to go back to space. 

"Hey, Crystal," Lance spoke up, after a few minutes of silence and waiting for Netflix to load. "When do Jason and Annie get back from school?"

"'round 3:00. Why?" Crystal asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Screw Power Rangers, I'm picking them up," Lance suddenly shot from the couch, pulling Keith with him. "Same school, right?"

Crystal nodded. "Tell mom first."

"'course," Lance dragged Keith out of the room and into the kitchen. Rosa was leaning on the island, talking to John, hands clasped together and a frown on her face.

"John, you can't just avoid him, he's your sons boyfriend," Rosa sighed.

Keith tensed, pulling on Lance's arm. "We should wait until they're done," he whispered, lightly pulling him out of the room. "We can wait in the living room-"

"That's the point, Rosa!" His voice raised in volume, but it became calm in a matter of milliseconds. "You knew what kind of house I grew up in. I was-"

"You were taught that this stuff was wrong, I know. That's not the problem, here. Jason is dating a boy, and you didn't have a problem with that!" Rosa threw her arms in the air, exaggerating her point.

"Lance, we should really go- this isn't something we should be listening to-" Keith tugged on Lance's arm, hard enough to notice.

"Right, yeah. Okay," Lance walked in-

"This is different! Our son went who knows where for two years, came back without some kind of warning, with a kid who he claims is his boyfriend! We have no idea who he is! He could be some type of psychopath who's giving our kid drugs, and making him believe he was in space!" John huffed at the end of it, face flushed with anger. 

Lance blanched in the doorway, arm limp in Keith's hold. Keith stared with wide eyes at Lance's father- how could he not believe him? Sure, it sounds pretty fake, but Lance was their son, who, apparently, almost never lied to them! Why wouldn't he believe his son?!

"Um," _Smooth, Lance. Smooth._ "What?"

Keith looked between Lance and his parents. It was obvious that Rosa was trying to conceal her anger (from what, Keith didn't know. Probably John's outburst). Her fists kept tightening on the rag she was holding. John was obviously pissed off, glaring at Keith. 

Lance was clearly furious. His hands were balled into fists, his jaw was set, and his nose was twitching in anger, like it did when he was absolutely furious with something.

Like right now. With his dad.

"John," Rosa growled, dishrag squished in her tight fist. "That's bullshit and you know it."

"Rosa-"

"I wasn't finished!" She snapped, throwing the rag on the table. "I know exactly who Keith is. Remember when we visited that orphanage down the street?" John nodded tersely. "He was one of the kids that went there. He got adopted by the Shirogane family, you know, Takashi Shirogane? Lance's role model? That's his brother!" 

Rosa...

Rosa went to one of his orphanages?

No, she couldn't have. He would've remembered her.

Unless this is fake.

If this isn't real, the Galra could just be sprouting random bits of information that weren't true into his head to try and make him believe-

"Even if I didn't know all of this, Lance told me stuff about him from the Garrison! He's not drugging our son, John! This is real! He's telling the truth!"

"And how do you know that?" John all but growled, shoving the stool he was sitting on away from himself. "We wouldn't be able to tell if he was lying, Rosa!" He threw his hands into the air.

Keith knew this man hadn't, and wouldn't, hurt anyone in his family, even some random boy he'd just met that was dating his son, but he couldn't stop the flinch.

He couldn't stop the memory that surfaced.

_"What am I supposed to do, Rick? Throw him into the woods?" Janie shouted, outside of his door. "If he dies out there, there'll be an investigation! His teachers will notice he's been missing school-!"_

_A loud crack filled the small, thin walled house, just as Janie stopped talking._

_Keith curled into an even tighter ball on his bed, shaking from head to toe. His leg was still bleeding badly from where they had cut him, and he expected that Rick would start to whip him soon because of how he reacted._

_He wasn't supposed to scream._

_He wasn't supposed to cry._

_They had ordered him never to do that._

_And he'd done it._

_He had done it before, once._

_Rick had brought the belt down on his back four times._

_He said he'd do it until Keith passed out if he did it again._

_And Keith had done it again._

_"Don't shout at me, woman," Rick spat. Rick pushed the door hard enough for the knob to break the wall._

_Keith flinched._

_"What did I say, kid? Huh?" Rick growled, grabbing his hair and yanking him off of the bed. "No screaming, no crying. Two rules. You gotta be punished, kid."_

_Rick threw him onto his knees, grabbing the belt off of the floor._

_"You know I hate whipping ya, kid. Why you gotta make me do this?"_

_Keith knew it was best if he didn't answer._

_The belt made a large cracking noise as it connected with his back._

_Keith bit his lip hard enough to bleed-_

"Keith!" 

Someone shook his shoulders, snapping him back into reality.

Keith's vision was blurred- was he crying?- but he knew it was Lance in front of him. 

They were kneeling on the ground, again, after what Keith assumed was another one of his panic attacks.

He had been getting better at this-

What had he done wrong?

Keith felt a tear roll down his cheek, which confirmed that he was crying. He hastily scrubbed at his cheeks and his eyes, trying to make it stop.

"Keith, hey," Lance gently grabbed Keith's wrist. "It's okay to cry-"

"No- no it's not, they hurt me when I cry-"

"You're not there anymore. You aren't with them, you haven't been in a long time. They got taken to jail, remember? You told me all of this a few months ago."

Keith licked his dry lips, nodding rapidly.

He did tell Lance.

That was all in the past.

He still tasted copper on his mouth.

"What..?" Keith placed a finger to his lips, pulling it back, only to see more blood. God, Lance was right. He was a red shirt.

"You bit your lip a few seconds ago," Lance rubbed his arms comfortingly. 

Keith sighed, nodding slightly.

He was pathetic.

"Let's, um, pick up your siblings?" Keith offered, wanting to change the subject.

"Oh, right. Yeah. Let's go do that," Lance agreed, helping Keith off of the floor.

"Where did your parents go?" Keith asked, getting himself steady on his feet.

"When mama called me in here, I explained you don't like being near people when you start to have a panic attack," Lance explained, gesturing with his hands.

"Thank you," Keith sighed, intertwining their fingers for the second time that day.

"No problem, babe. Now, let's go pick up Jason and Annie! For narnia!"

"What?"

"What- you don't- You don't know what Narnia is?!"

Keith shook his head.

"Great. Another thing to watch later."

* * *

They pulled into the school's parking lot, windows closed and the air conditioning high.

It was one of the hottest days of September so far, according to Rosa, so he had tied Lance's jacket around his waist, instead.

Lance had said it made him look like a badass, especially with all of his scars.

Keith smacked him and told him to start the car.

They had taken Crystal with them, at Rosa's insistence. She didn't want her son to disappear again, and everyone thought he and Lance were dead, so they couldn't go into the school to grab Jason and Annie. Crystal would go into the school, tell them Mom was here to pick them up, bring them to the car, and it'd be a nice family reunion.

Hopefully.

Crystal unbuckled her seatbelt, opened the door, and hopped out. "I swear to God, Lance, if you disappear again-"

"I won't," Lance gave her a finger gun and a wink. Crystal groaned, slamming the car door and dashing up the school's steps, disappearing from sight as she turned the corner.

Keith leaned his head on Lance's shoulder, listening to the bell ring. It was... a familiar bell.

Children poured out of the side doors, some tan, some white, some black. It was like watching a rainbow, in Lance's words. 

If Keith thought about it, the whole school looked familiar. He hadn't seen the name yet, but he was fairly certain he'd gone here at one point. 

The school was white and blue, with a few windows every eight inches or so. There were two doors that Keith could see, both on the side. He hadn't seen the front of the school yet. 

Lance startled him from his thoughts, nudging his head with his shoulder, and pointing to some kid who was staring at them with furrowed brows. 

"You think he recognizes us?" Lance asked, just as Keith litfted his head up from Lance's shoulders.

"I don't-" Keith cut himself off when the boy's eyes widened. He started tugging on his friends arm, then pointed to the car that they were currently sitting in. "Yes, I think he recognizes us," he said dryly.

"Great," Lance said sarcastically, dropping his forehead onto the steering wheel. 

Keith crossed his arms, watching the side of the school for Lance's siblings. 

They were bound to show up sometime.

Maybe they'd show up before-

A knock came from his right.

His head whipped around, hand instinctively reaching for the knife at his waist. These boys were the one who had recognized them, but they looked familiar...

"Open the window, Kogane!" The blonde boy said, knocking on the window again. 

Keith's breath hitched.

_Oh no._

Lance lifted his head from the steering wheel, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Who are they?" he asked, just loud enough for Keith to hear.

Keith sighed, hand curling around the knife's hilt. "Football players that I broke the nose of."

"Damn. Badass in school, badass in space," Lance commented, a smile tugging at his lips.

"I got suspended for a while, so they couldn't do anything back. During the suspension, I was accepted into the Garrison. I was fifteen.

"Still don't know their names," Keith said, a small, smug smile on his face.

Lance groaned, dropping his head back onto the steering wheel. "God damn it-"

"Open the window, faggot!" The boy yelled again, while the other boy stared in confusion at Keith's neck. 

"He's staring at my neck," Keith said, not letting go of the knife. The second boy, pulled on the first boy's sleeve, whispering something that Keith couldn't make out. When the second boy stopped talking, the first guys eyes trailed to his neck as well. There was a sharp intake of breath on his part. "Why are they staring at my neck?" Keith asked, turning to Lance.

"Your neck has a scar the shape of a handprint on it. You should probably cover it up," Lance said, the venom in his tone directed at Kuro.

"Fuck-" Keith let go of his knife, grabbed the collar of his t-shirt, and pulled it up to his nose, hopefully blocking the scar. 

"Oh- there's Crystal. And Jason. And Annie- fuck it, I'm going out to see them-" Lance unbuckled his seatbelt, hand moving to unlock his door.

"Lance, _don't_ ," he hissed, grabbing Lance's arm. "There are teachers around, they'll recognize you."

Lance huffed, dropping his hand from the handle. He put the seatbelt back on, fingers tapping on his leg as he impatiently waited for his siblings to get to the car.

"I will break the fucking window, Kogane!"

Keith rolled his eyes, pulling out his knife. He tapped it against the glass giving him a look that he hoped translated into; _I was in space fighting Aliens for a year do you really want to fuck with me right now?_

The boys backed off, scowling at him.

"You didn't have to do that," Lance mumbled, taking his hand as he put the knife away. "Coulda just told 'em to fuck off, or something."

"I did," Keith answered teasingly, "But with a knife."

Lance rolled his eyes fondly, rubbing circles onto Keith's hand.

Lance unlocked the doors as the trio stood beside the car. Crystal got inside first, proceeding to the seat behind Keith. Lance ducked his head down, keeping his features away from his siblings.

Annie got in next, being the shortest of the three. Unlike the rest of Lance's family, save for Ethan, she had green eyes, with a lighter skin tone, but almost exactly the same as Lance's. Her hair was in a messy bun at the back of her hair, a pencil sliding through it.

She didn't seem to notice Lance- she probably thought it was Carlos. 

Jason got in after her, sitting in the seat behind Lance. Like Annie, he had a lighter skin tone as well. He had brown eyes, with a small splash of freckles across his nose. His build was close to Lance's new one- broad shoulders, defined muscles- and his hair was a longer than Lance's, but only by an inch.

He didn't notice Lance, but he noticed Keith, studying him with suspicion. "Who are you?" Jason asked, voice deep.

Puberty has been gone through.

"I'm-"

"Don't question it!" Lance yelled, locking the doors and starting the car. "He has candy! Just take it!"

Keith watched as Jason and Annie's eyes widened in surprise, then confusion, then excitement. Annie gasped, while Jason wrapped his arms around as much of the drivers seat as he could reach.

"Lance!" they shouted in sync. Annie unbuckled her seat belt, resting her knees on the compartment between the front seats to hug her brother. Lance hugged her back with one arm, the other reaching through the seat and the door to take Jason's hand as he tried (and failed) to hug him.

After a short hug, Annie started slapping Lance half heartedly. "Where were you?"

"You were gone for two years, Lance! No notes! Just a letter and news report from the Garrison that you and Hunk and some other girl went missing!" Jason joined in, punching Lance's arm.

Lance let out an indignant squwak. "You knew Pidge was a girl?!"

"You didn't?" Crystal perked up.

"Of course I didn't!" Lance huffed. "Get in your seat, Annie. I'll tell you where I was on the way home."

Annie let out a similar huff, but sat back down, buckled in, and crossed her arms with _another_ huff.

"Can you answer my question? Who's that?" Jason asked again, poking Keith's bicep.

"Jason, meet our new pet. His name is Space Cat, and he is also a slut."

"I am not a slut. You're the one that wanted to make out on your mother's couch," Keith scowled, jabbing Lance in the side.

Lance yelped, snatching Keith's hand in his own. "Fine, his name is Keith, he's my boyfriend," Lance smirked.

"No way! You could never get anyone to date you back in the Garrison!" Annie practically screeched as Lance pulled out of the parking lot.

"You always whined to us about it!" Jason added.

Lance's smirk faltered. Keith felt one tugging at the corner of his lips. "Oh, really?"

Jason nodded, snickering.

"Betrayal!" Lance shouted, turning harshly to send Jason flying into the door. "Okay, enough of the past. Story time on where we were!"

"Lance, that is the pas-" Keith was cut off with a mouth on his. They had reached a stop sign.

"No interrupting!"

"This is going to be a long car ride," Crystal sighed, and Keith could not agree more.

* * *

They were right.

It was a long car ride.

By the time Lance had finished the story, they had arrived at the house.

It didn't help that Lance drove _way_ below the speed limits, and took the long way back.

"Hey, Keith," Lance said, leaning on the car. He was about to go up the stairs to the patio when he called him. He raised an eyebrow as he turned to look at him. "C'mere."

Keith stepped off the stair, walking back to Lance. Jason looked at them quizzically from the doorway.

"We'll be inside in a few minutes, I promise we're not going anywhere," Lance waved him off.

Jason nodded, walking inside and closing the door behind him.

"What?" Keith asked, standing in front of him.

"We aren't inside," was all the warning he got before Lance grabbed his wrists and pulled him in for a kiss.

And another.

And another one.

And another.

* * *

Keith found himself pressed against the garage wall, legs wrapped around Lance's waist, nearly four minutes later.

Lance's hands were on his ass; the only thing, other than the wall, keeping him from falling to the ground.

Keith's hands played with the hair at the base of Lance's neck, as Lance peppered kisses onto his bare, scarred neck.

Keith moaned in pleasure when he nipped the lobe of his ear.

"Lance, we- they're gonna think we left again-" Lance cut him off with another kiss, this time to his mouth.

Keith moved his hands to underneath to Lance's shirt, forgetting his train of thought, as he trailed one of Lance's scars.

"Lance," Keith and Lance snapped apart as they heard Jason open the door. "Mom wants you... guys..." Jason trailed off, eyes landing on the pair pushed against the wall.

Keith's face flushed from embarrassment as he looked away, while Lance smiled sheepishly as he squeezed Keith's ass.

Keith's breath hitched. "Lance!" he hissed, taking his hands off of Lance. "Your brother is-!"

"Please," Lance scoffed, placing him on the ground as Jason stood in the doorway, staring at them with his feet rooted to the ground. "I've caught Jason doing so much worse. _In_ the car."

"I, uh, won't tell mom. I'll go back now," Jason said awkwardly, disappearing back into the house, door shutting behind him. 

"He owes me one. It's fine," Lance insisted at Keith's embarrassed face, taking his hand and pulling him back inside.

Lance opened the door, letting him go inside first. Keith's face flushed, again, but grinned behind his bangs.

Once they were inside, Lance took his hand again, leading them to the only empty seat in the room- the armchair. 

Lance sat down first, crossing his legs beneath him, then pulled Keith into his lap. 

"Hey, Jenga," Lance said, earning an unamused look from Jessie. "Turn on Power Rangers."

"Stop calling me that, and maybe I would," She glared at him, crossing her arms. 

Lance bat his eyelashes at her.

She shook her head. "No. Besides, mama wants to take you to the beach, anyways."

Keith watched Lance's eyes light up. "The one tourists don't know about?"

She nodded.

Lance pumped his fist into the air. "Hell yes!"

He stood so quickly from the chair, Keith nearly fell over. Luckily, Lance had managed to slip his arms under Keith's shoulders and knees when he wasn't looking, so he ended up carrying Keith bridal-style, much to his embarrassment.

"Where are we going?" Keith asked, once he was put onto Lance's bed. Lance tossed a pair of swim shorts at his face, which he caught out of reflex.

"Beach," Lance answered, pulling off his shirt.

Keith blanched.

Had Lance forgotten?

No, no, he couldn't have forgotten.

How could he forget how his boyfriend nearly drowned?

"Get your shorts on, babe! I haven't been to that beach in so long," he said, pulling on his shorts.

He did forget.

Keith sighed, taking off his pants and pulling on the blue swim shorts.

He'd suffer through it to keep Lance happy.

Keith went to pull off his shirt, but thought better of it. He'd take it off when he got in the water.

He'd go in the water for Lance.

Keith stood up, nodding his head towards the door. "Let's go," he said, hoping his voice didn't shake like he thought it did.

Lance must have been too excited to notice. He nodded happily, taking Keith's hand in his own and practically running through the hallway.

He quickly slipped on some shoes,  handing Keith a pair of flip flops, before bolting out of the front door, fingers still intertwined with Keith's.

* * *

 

They had all went to the beach- everyone except John, who was at work. They piled into the van, Ethan in Carlos' lap in the front seat.

It was weird being in a car again. He hadn't been in one since Shiro had left for the Kerberos mission. Riding the hover bike was different than a car.

It took five minutes for them to get to the beach.

Lance had hastily pulled him out of the car, running through the sand at such a fast speed, Keith was surprised Lance hadn't fallen yet.

Rosa and Carlos had quickly set up a little relaxing spot soon after, pulling surfboards out of the car and placing them onto a wide rainbow blanket.

The only other people at the beach were Hunk, his two moms, and his baby sister, who was playing with Carla.

Apparently, Hunk and his family were friends of everyone in Lance's family, so they had missed Hunk nearly as much as they missed Lance.

A lot of hugs were given, and a slap on his arm from Rosa for disappearing. 

He hugged Keith while he was taking off his shirt.

"You don't have to go in if you don't want to," Hunk whispered, letting go.

"I-" he swallowed over the lump in his throat. "I know. I want to," he lied.

Hunk clearly knew he was lying through his teeth, but didn't push it, just nodded and ran into the water, putting Crystal on his shoulders as Jason did the same thing to Annie.

Taking a deep breath, he took off his shirt with shaking fingers, dumping it onto the rainbow blanket that Rosa and Carlos had prepared. 

He ignored the worried glance from Hunk, who was one of the only two people who knew what happened here, walking towards the water. 

He would go into the water to keep Lance happy.

As long as he didn't go under, he'd be fine.

He stepped into the water, ignoring the spike of fear that shot through his stomach.

He waited for it to subside before he placed another foot in, satisfied when the panic was numbed a little.

By the time he got knee deep, Lance had appeared behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist.

"You didn't have to come in the water," Lance said, resting his chin on his shoulder.

"If it kept you happy, there was no way I was staying out of it," Keith retorted, happy that Lance had remembered.

He wasn't too sure why he was happy, but he was.

"Okay, but Keith," he said, taking his chin off of Keith's shoulder and turning him, placing both hands on his biceps. "If you get scared, get out, okay? It's totally fine if you do."

Keith sighed, but nodded. "Okay."

"Good," Lance let go of his biceps, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a sister to terrorize."

Lance dove underwater to wear his sister, Jessie, was splashing Hunk.

He pulled her underwater, and Keith had to ignore the spike of fear as she went under.

He kept walking, up until he got waist deep. 

He was standing near Hunk now, who gave him a reassuring smile. 

He smiled back, hoping it wasn't wavering-

Something grabbed his ankles, and his eyes widened in panic.

It pulled him under.

Keith's back slammed against the wet sand.

Keith stared above him in fear, forcing himself to stop breathing-

He was back in Lotor's ship, struggling at the chains binding his hands to the walls.

The water was steadily increasing, covering his mouth and nose in nearly a second.

He shut his mouth to keep the air in- but it didn't work- he needed to breathe-

Water filled his lungs as he started to breathe-

Suddenly, he was on the sand on his ass, choking up the water that had entered his body.

Someone, probably Lance, was rubbing his back soothingly, telling him "It's okay, you're fine, you're not on his ship, breathe."

He coughed and hacked until it was completely out of his system.

He turned around to face Lance-

Only to be met with a pair of eyes that definitely weren't blue.

He stared back at Hunk's face, trying to keep tears in.

He didn't want to cry in front of Hunk, no matter how many times he had done it before.

His body, on the other hand, had different ideas.

He let out a sob, muffling it with his hand as tears mixed with the ocean water on his face. Hunk pulled him into a hug, resting his arms on Keith's back as Keith clung to him, crying into his shoulder.

Hunk helped, sure, but he wanted Lance.

Where was Lance?

"W-where's La-Lance?" he gasped between sobs.

"He's yelling at Jason," Hunk answered, rubbing his back.

Keith shook in Hunk's hold. "O-okay."

"Do you want him?"

Keith nodded. "You- you're good a-at this, b-but-"

"I get it man. You want Lance, it's absolutely okay," Hunk gave him, yet again, a reassuring smile, before standing up to go get Lance.

Keith stared at his hands.

Was he really pathetic enough that he couldn't go underwater for two seconds without having a panic attack?

Why was he so stupid?

Why-

"Hey," Lance said softly, lifting up his chin. "Want a hug?"

Keith didn't answer.

He threw himself at Lance, and he hoped that was answer enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's eleven 14 , im writing on a phone, again, and i don't give a fuck if here are grammar mistakes atm  
> if i notice them later, i'll fix it  
> but for now - fuCKING DEAL WITH IT  
> *drops mic*  
> good night  
> *thats a lie i have two other things to do before bed and it involves this website. i'll probably be in bed by 6am*  
> shOUTOUT TO NERDBEYONDLIMITS BECAUSE HES JUST REALLY SUPPORTIVE AND SHIT??  
> THANK YOU


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just... i have nothing, except that you're going to hate me for this  
> alright, after a few days of this up, it'll become chapter three.  
> there'll be around five more chapters, maybe? i've got the ending planned out, and that doesn't mean anything good >:)  
> i just need to get there...  
> (don't worry kids, this series will not be ending for a while- i love writing it)

Lance opened his eyes, blinking away the blurriness.

He sat up slowly, careful not to disturb Keith, who was sleeping soundly on his chest. He gently laid the sleeping boy onto his pillow, taking his feet out of the bed and placing them on the floor.

He looked over at the clock on his nightstand, internally groaning at the time.

It was 8:53am.

On a Saturday morning.

His mom would be cleaning. 

He stood up from the bed, wincing when the mattress creaked.

When he looked over his shoulder, Keith mumbled something incoherently, turning onto his back, but stayed asleep.

Lance let out the breath he didn't know he was holding, relief washing over him. 

Keith hadn't gotten a good nights sleep in weeks.

He didn't want to wake him up early when he hadn't woken up from a nightmare all night long.

He tiptoed out of the room, avoiding all of the creaks he had counted when he was seven.

He turned the knob so the door didn't click as he closed it, holding his breath when it shut.

He breathed out _another_ sigh of relief when he didn't hear Keith wake up.

He turned around-

His shriek was muffled with a mouth to his hand.

After all of the time he spent in space, fighting evil alien cats, doing stealth missions, you'd think he'd be better at getting scared.

"Mom wants you downstairs," Jessie whispered. "Something about your pants?"

Lance rolled his eyes, taking her hand off of his mouth. "'Kay, thanks. Don't be too loud," he whispered, lightly running down the stairs. 

The dim light in the laundry room was shining on the wooden floors; door wide open.

He could hear the faint hum of the washing machine do it's magic- Lance still didn't know how they worked.

"Mama?" he called, stepping into the room. 

His mother was kneeling before the washing machine, placing a folded t-shirt into the basket. "Hello, _mijo_ ," she said, looking up with a smile. 

"So..." he put his hands into pockets, looking at the floor. "You wanted me?"

"Ah, yes. How long have you been dating that wonderful, _wonderful_ boy?" she asked, pulling more clothes out.

"Um, about four months. Why?"

She pulled the ring out of her pocket. "You are not allowed to marry this boy in space, you hear me?"

"Wha- Mama-"

"Listen to me, _mijo_. I know you may not think that he'll say yes, but trust me, he will. I know these things. So, promise me, have your wedding on Earth, okay? I want to see everything."

Lance swallowed over the lump in his throat. He nodded tersely. "Okay. Can I..?"

"Oh! Of course, _mijo_ ," Rosa said, handing him the ring. Lance took it, squishing it in his palm. "It's a beautiful ring. I assume Keith is the red, and you're the blue?"

Lance nodded, embarrassment evident on his face.

"The purple is your love?"

"H-ha, yeah," Lance stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

"That's so sweet," she winked. "Now go, make breakfast for him or something. He didn't eat last night."

"R-right! Yeah. Okay," Lance stuttered, _again_ , practically running into the kitchen.

It's a good thing he wasn't running. If he were running, he wouldn't have heard the quiet noises coming from his room.

Lance slid to a stop, opening the door as slowly as possible, to make the least amount of noise as he could.

He wasn't really sure what the noise was; When he was in there last, Keith had been sleeping fine, and-

 _Shit_.

No longer caring about making any noise, he rushed to the bed, sitting beside Keith, who was squirming and sobbing in his sleep. His fingers dug into the sheets beneath him, twisting them into little balls into his hand. Sweat mixed with the tears running down his face that dropped onto the bed, creating a slowly growing wet spot.

"Hey," Lance said softly, lightly shaking Keith's shoulder. It was best not to startle him awake; the last time he had done that, Keith had elbowed him in the jaw, then proceeded to apologize and sob for nearly an hour. Granted, the sobbing was because of the nightmare, but Lance knew Keith was a little crazy at the moment. "Hey," he repeated, a little louder.

Keith's breath hitched. He started muttering incoherently under his breath.

" _Lance_ -" Keith muttered. " _Don't- No, wait_ -"

"Keith," Lance pulled him into his lap, rubbing his back. "Keith, wake up, it's okay, you're fine-"

"No!" Keith screamed, jerking in Lance's grip, eyes shooting open. He breathed heavily, his eyes taking several seconds to focus on Lance. He sobbed quietly, turning around so he could bury his face in his shoulder. "S-sorry," he croaked, voice hoarse, as he tightened his hands in the fabric of Lance's shirt.

Lance put one of his arms on Keith's back, using the other to slide the ring in his back pocket. He quickly moved it to Keith's back, hoping he hadn't noticed. "We've gone over this, babe. You don't have to be sorry-"

"Y-yes, I do," Keith looked up from his shoulder, eyes still wet. "I was o-only there for a week, Lance. A week. I- Shiro was there for a year, and he's not nearly a-as pathetic as me!"

"Keith, you're not-"

"Let me finish! I- I went through some bad shit, I know that, and my pa-past probably didn't help with that, but Shiro was there for a year, Lance, and he only has the occasional flashbacks and nightmares and flinches. B-but me? I breakdown when I go in the fucking water! It- Don't bother arguing with me o-on this, it is pathetic, Lance, and _I can't stop it_. I'm just a fucking burden to the team, and I don't fucking understand how you can fucking love me-"

Lance clapped his hand over Keith's mouth, earning a barely contained flinch. He felt shitty about that, but started talking anyways, not removing his hand. "Stop. Do you fucking hear me? Stop talking shit about yourself. I still don't freaking know what they did to you. I don't think I want to know what they did to you-"

"You don't," Keith muttered, under his breath, voice muddled by Lance's hand.

"But that doesn't mean I don't love you," Lance said, ignoring Keith. "I love you, I will always fucking love you, and don't you ever say something- No, don't even think like that again, got it? You're an amazing, hotheaded, beautiful, kind, emo, brave, strong person, and I love you."

Keith's eyes were wet again.

"You're not a burden, Keith. Stop thinking like that," Keith sniffled, probably to keep from crying. Again. "Let's go get breakfast, okay?"

Just as Lance started to pull away, Keith threw himself around Lance's torso. Lance's hands found purchase on his lower back. He chuckled fondly. "You gotta eat, babe."

Keith poked his head up from Lance's stomach. "In a lit'l bit. Cuddles," Keith burrowed his head back into Lance's stomach.

Laughing, Lance fell backwards on the bed, dragging Keith with. "Cuddles," he agreed.

* * *

 "I thought you couldn't cook," Keith muttered, shifting the little girl in his lap, who was having the  _bestest_ time braiding his mullet.

"Yeah, I just told Hunk that so I wouldn't have to cook when he was around," Lance winked in his direction, causing Keith to blush. 

Asides from the little girl in his lap, Carla, Lance had told him, and Carlos, who was silently glaring daggers at Keith who was faking obliviousness, they were the only ones in the kitchen.

Keith sat in the blue stool this time (it's not like he had a choice, Lance pushed him on it and said blue, then dropped the kid [who had attached to his leg] onto his lap), trying to stay still while she pulled at his hair.

"I can understand that," Keith agreed, an amused smile forming on his lips as the pancake Lance was flipping fell to the floor with a ' _splat_ ' noise.

Keith laughed at Lance's sad face as he stared at the fallen soldier. "I guess you can't cook," Keith earned a smack from Carla.

"Stop moving!"

He obliged, pathetically scared of the little girl, resuming to his original position. "I will make you eat that," Lance threatened, pointing at the pancake.

Keith refrained from making a sexual threat of his own.

Lance hummed while he cooked the bacon, occasionally tapping his foot to the beat in his head.

"You didn't warn me," Keith muttered, hugging Carla, "that she'd be so _cute_."

Lance laughed as Carla squealed in delight, moving to hide under his shirt.

"She thinks when she's hugged she's supposed to hide in your shirt," Lance commented, turning around to put the eggs and bacon on the three plates. "She likes it." He put the remaining pancakes onto a smaller plate, and sprinkled chocolate chips and sugar on it.

"Lance," Keith's eyes were blown wide, "that's going to give you diabetes-"

"Relax, space cat. It's for Carla, and this is, like, a monthly thing," Lance rolled his eyes, pushing the plate of eggs and bacon to Keith. He grabbed forks and put them on the plates, handing one to Keith. 

Keith smiled appreciatevly, "Thank you."

"Here," Carlos said, venom leaking into his voice, "I'll take Carla," he reached for Carla, who Keith happily gave up. He wanted real food. Not space goo.

Carlos got off the stool, shifting Carla until she was on his back in a piggy back ride. She giggled happily, clinging to his shoulders. He grabbed his plate and Carla's, walking out of the room and into the living room.

"Milk? Orange juice?" Lance asked, ass in Keith's line of sight (purposefully).

"Orange juice, please," Keith mentioned, taking a bite of the bacon, " _Oh my God_ ,  _I missed bacon_."

"I did too," Lance snorted, setting down the glass in front of him. He sat down on the yellow stool, facing him with the plate of food in his lap. He shoved an entire egg into his mouth, without anything falling out, as if he'd done it before. 

"So, um, why does Carlos seem like he wants to kill me?" Keith asked, poking at an egg.

"I... I'm not sure," Lance mumbled, ripping the bacon in half. He tossed one half onto Keith's almost empty plate, and the other into his mouth.

"Lance-"

"Eat it, Keith. You need it more than I do," Lance twirled the egg onto his fork like spaghetti. 

"I don't-"

"You've hardly eaten anything in the last month, and you haven't bothered to gain back the weight you lost when we got back from... _there_." 

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Keith tugged at Lance's baggy pyjama shirt (it's _his_ now).

"So, please, Keith. Let me fatten you up," Lance pleaded, putting in his best puppy dog eyes.

Keith huffed, eating the bacon as he crossed his arms. "Happy?"

"Yes. I'm going to fatten you up and eat you," he gave Keith a toothy smile, taking his plate and Keith's to the sink. 

"You love me too much to do that," Keith rolled his eyes, getting up from the stool. "C'mon. I wanna hug the life outta that kid."

"Aw!" Lance squealed, taking Keith's hand in his own. "Who knew you were such a softie?" Lance teased, poking his side.

"You did," Keith deadpanned, pulling them into the living room.

"Keef!" Carla squeaked, pulling out of Carlos' grip to run to him. Keith crouched down, arms outstretched for the little girl. Once again, he ignored Carlos' glare.

Instead of coming to hug him, she knocked him over, landing on his chest as Keith got the wind knocked out of him (Keith hardly noticed that he didn't have a panic attack at the sudden contact). Keith laughed, twirling the girl in the air.

"Lance, I love her so freaking much," He squeezed her in between his chest and arms, lifting his legs in the air to try and bring her closer. She laughed, a high pitched squeal that erupted from her chest. 

_Beep_

"What was that?" Lance asked, looking around the room.

_Beep, beep, beep_

"What the hell?" Keith murmured, putting Carla down and standing up.

_ Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep _

"Boys? What's that noise?" Rosa called from the basement, voice raised loud enough for them to hear.

"We don't-"

_Paladins! There is an emergency!_

"Oh shit," Lance exhaled, running to the bedroom, with Keith right behind him.

The bedroom door made a loud slam as it hit the wall. Lance slid to his knees by the bag he brought, digging through it to find the communication device Allura had given them. Just as Lance got up, his beeping and in hand, Keith was already packing their stuff, the device in his back pocket.

"Boys? What's going on?" Rosa asked, appearing in the doorway.

"I'm sorry," Lance said quietly, shoving the device into his pocket. "We have to go back."

"Oh," Rosa said sadly. "I understand, _mijo_. Pack up. I'll go tell everyone," before she left, Rosa attacked Lance with a hug. Lance hugged her back, whispering ' _I'm sorry'_ over and over. "It's okay. Go pack."

Lance nodded, letting go of his mother to pack up the little amount of things they brought.

Rosa hugged Keith, earning a flinch from the sudden contact. Keith apologized, hugging her back shortly. 

"Keep my boy safe," She murmured, letting go. Keith swallowed harshly as he nodded. He wouldn't let Lance die. _Again_.

Rosa left the room after that, yelling things in a language Keith didn't understand, but it wasn't spanish, either. 

"French," Lance explained. "It's her first language. She grew up in Quebec," Lance said, zipping up his bag.

"Lance," Keith put a hand on his shoulder, turning him around. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Lance breathed, pulling him into a hug. "I will be," he smiled into Keith's hair.

"Okay," Keith pulled away grabbing both bags. "Let's go."

"No- Keith! I'm the gentleman!"

* * *

When Keith and Lance left the house, they were met with a patio full of frozen food.

"Holy shit," Keith's grip loosened on the bags, which Lance took advantage of by taking them from his grasp.

"That's a lot of food," Lance agreed. "Um, mama?"

Rosa was leaning against the decks railing, a smile on her face. "I told you I'd send you with food."

Lance nearly fainted right there and then.

* * *

With all of their belongings packed onto the pod, and Hunk, they flew the pod off to Pidge's house, picking her and Matt up as quickly as possible.

Matt had decided to stay in space, presumably to help look for their father.

When they got back to the Castle, Allura and Shiro were already there, pod back in the hangar, as they talked to Coran.

"Paladins!" Allura's voice echoed across the room. Lance, Keith, Pidge and Hunk got to their respective seats while Matt leaned on Pidge's, a solemn expression on his face. "Planet S'eng-orley has contacted us, claiming a Galra ship was a days travel away. We must get there as quickly as possible to protect them, hopefully forming an alliance along the way."

They all nodded in agreement (and in sync), as Allura started the Castle and flew out of the cave they'd landed in.

* * *

 

After entering space, they had created a wormhole and traveled the (now) short distance to S'eng-orley.

They were planned to meet in an hour for a small meeting before the Galra attacked, which now, would be ten hours.

When they got back to the room to change, Lance had laid a hand on Keith's back, pulling him close, while Keith jumped up and wrapping his legs around Lance's waist.

"We've got an hour to spare," Keith murmured, a hand playing with Lance's hair as he kissed Keith's neck.

"Oh, how will we ever survive?" Lance mocked, bending over so they were on the bed.

"I don't know-"

"Shut up and take off your clothes." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOOKAY  
> implied sex  
> so, for the next one, i know what it'll be, but i don't know if it should be a new series or the next chapter??  
> please comment and solve my problem...  
> ha  
> thanks  
> FEEDBACK IS GREATLY APPRECIATED, hope you enjoyed  
> sorry it was only a few chapters long, i have a hard time writing fluff with hardly any angst...  
> anywho  
> bYE

**Author's Note:**

> rough translationgs from google translate, please excuse any mistakes, i do not speak spanish in anyway.  
> Dios mío, Carlos, ¿qué mierda? ¡Es Keith, imbécil! ¡Suéltalo! =  
> My god, Carlos, what the fuck?! It's Keith, dumbass! Let go of him!  
> ¿Lance? ¿Eres tu? = Lance? Is that you?  
> Joder sí, soy yo. Ahora suelta a mi novio, hijo de puta =  
> Fuck yeah, it's me. Now let go of my boyfriend, you motherfucker-  
> rosa doesn't speak spanish.  
> jesus christ 5k words. okay, wow. next update should be soon.


End file.
